As we are finishing up our two years with our pharmacies who participated in cohort 2 of Flip the Pharmacy, I thought it was an opportune time to reflect on the successes and challenges that our pharmacy team has faced.
Our network is a newer network formed in early 2020, so we utilized a small number of pharmacies who were early adopters of CPESN WV for our Flip the Pharmacy cohort. We obviously had challenges with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, but many of our pharmacies rose to the occasion and made substantial changes in their pharmacy practice.
Pharmacy team members went above and beyond assessing the vaccination status of their patients not only ensuring that they received their influenza and COVID-19 vaccines, but routine vaccinations that may have been missed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Teams also put together lists of resources specific to their communities so that they could ensure that all of their patients’ basic needs were met during the social determinants of health change package series. Finally, pharmacy teams developed multiple resources related to safe opioid use that they then implemented in their practices to keep their patients and communities safe.
As a coach and team lead, I am very impressed with the number of changes that many of these pharmacy teams have made. The most successful pharmacies had a strong champion who rallied their other pharmacy team members to make big changes in their pharmacies positively impacting the lives of countless patients. I encourage all of our teams to not lose the momentum that has been gained the past two years and to continue to move the practice of pharmacy forward. I am excited to see all of the amazing things that our pharmacies in West Virginia accomplish in the coming years!
Written by CPESN WV Flip the Pharmacy Team Lead and Coach, Gretchen K. Garofoli, PharmD, BCACP, CTTS, FAPhA.
Pictured are Evan Turco, CPESN WV Flip the Pharmacy Coach, Kerry Kribbs, CPESN USA, Gretchen Garofoli, and Jason Turner, owner of Moundsville Pharmacy, CPESN WV.
